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Companies Can Buy Your Personal Data For Less Than A Dollar: Report

Your Personal Data Is Worth Less Than A Dollar
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By 

Associate Business Editor, The Huffington Post

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Your personal information may be valuable to companies looking to sell you stuff, but they don’t pay much for that data.

Basic details like your gender and where you live are available for companies to purchase for as little as $.0005 per person or 50 cents per 1,000 people, the Financial Times reports. If you’re popular with your friends on the internet, your data may be worth slightly more -- about $.00075 per person or 75 cents per 1,000 people.

The cheap price of your personal information is another indication of the wide availability of data many Americans believe is -- or should be -- private, an issue that’s taken on new significance in recent days after a whistleblower told The Guardian that the National Security Agency was monitoring the phone calls of millions of Americans. And a subsequent report from the Washington Post revealed that nine big technology companies were allowing the NSA to access customer data through a program called PRISM.

Companies have been using personal information to sell us stuff for years. Privacy advocates have long criticized grocery stores for using customer reward cards to track purchases. However, it's worth noting that sometimes that information can be used for the benefit of customers; the Centers for Disease Control have used the data to trace the source of food-borne illnesses and determine what products are in need of recall, according to a 2010 Denver Post report.

Last year a stunning New York Times report revealed the power of that customer data. In one case, after gathering enough information about a teenager's purchases, Target sent coupons for maternity products to her house -- tipping off her father to the pregnancy, The Times reported.

Still, there are movements afoot to ensure companies have less access to your private information. A group of privacy advocates is working on setting up an international standard for Do Not Track programs which allow consumers to opt-out of websites’ programs that track their personal information in order to pitch them targeted ads.

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Before You Go

Inside Google's Data Centers
Council Bluffs, Iowa(01 of10)
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From Google: "Inside our campus network room, routers and switches allow our data centers to talk to each other. The fiber optic networks connecting our sites can run at speeds that are more than 200,000 times faster than a typical home Internet connection. The fiber cables run along the yellow cable trays near the ceiling." (credit:Google)
The Dalles, Oregon(02 of10)
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From Google: "These colorful pipes are responsible for carrying water in and out of our Oregon data center. The blue pipes supply cold water and the red pipes return the warm water back to be cooled." (credit:Google)
Douglas County, Georgia(03 of10)
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From Google: "Blue LEDs on this row of servers tell us everything is running smoothly. We use LEDs because they are energy efficient, long lasting and bright." (credit:Google)
Hamina, Finland(04 of10)
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From Google: "Server floors like these require massive space and efficient power to run the full family of Google products for the world. Here in Hamina, Finland, we chose to renovate an old paper mill to take advantage of the building's infrastructure as well as its proximity to the Gulf of Finland's cooling waters." (credit:Google)
Berkeley County, South Carolina(05 of10)
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From Google: "In case anything should happen to our data, we have it all backed up. One of the places we back up information is here in our tape library. Robotic arms (visible at the end of the aisle) assist us in loading and unloading tapes when we need to access them." (credit:Google)
Hamina, Finland(06 of10)
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From Google: "A beautiful landscape forms during winter in Finland, as the gulf ices over and creates a picturesque view." (credit:Google)
The Dalles, Oregon(07 of10)
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From Google: "Mike Barham swaps out a motherboard. When server parts break, we first try to repair them. If we can't, we break them up into raw materials (steel, plastic, copper, etc.) and recycle the components." (credit:Google)
Council Bluffs, Iowa(08 of10)
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From Google: "This family of deer have moved in next to our Council Bluffs, Iowa center." (credit:Google)
The Dalles, Oregon(09 of10)
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From Google: "Steam rises above the cooling towers in The Dalles data center in Oregon. These plumes of water vapor create a quiet mist at dusk." (credit:Google)
Hamina, Finland(10 of10)
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From Google: "Different data centers offer different amenities. This conference room, inside our Hamina location, is just outside a sauna area which is available for employees whenever they like." (credit:Google)
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